American Nurseryman, February 2013

Pulp or Plastic By Amy Fulcher et al C urrent container nursery crop production in the U S consumes a substantial amount of plastic and water raising environmental concerns Decreasing consumption of plastic and reducing water use will assist the nursery industry in achieving greater sustainability and protecting natural resources The research reported here examined the use of biocontainers and a sustainable irrigation system to determine how nursery producers can most practically and profitably adopt sustainable practices Preliminary results suggest there is no effect of container type on growth In some locations however research showed that container type may affect mortality Plastics and alternatives In growing operations across the country above ground nursery production and pot in pot production rely almost exclusively on plastic containers In 1993 approximately 240 million pounds of plastic were generated by the nursery industry in the manufacture of high density polyethylene and polypropylene nursery containers that accounts for 588 percent of total plastics consumed by the nursery and floriculture industries Just 1 percent of horticulture plastics are recycled in spite of the fact that plastic pots and trays are recyclable Non plastic containers are slowly being adopted by a select number of businesses but there remain several lingering concerns including durability during plant production and shipping biodegradability in the landscape and plant growth during and Photos courtesy of Dr Guihong Bi In pot in pot trials at Crystal Springs Miss plants gained approximately 20 cm in height regardless of container type Plants grown in biocontainers used in above ground research showed little difference in growth compared to those grown in plastic pots but mortality rate was significantly lower Research comparing plastic to pulp containers shows theres little difference in plants growth performance but in some regions and under some conditions container type may affect mortality 20 February 2013 American Nurseryman www amerinursery com

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